Wynn building AC community center

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 12:02 p.m.

Steve Wynn's Mirage Resorts Inc., which plans to begin work this fall on a marina district casino, is paying the entire $700,000 tab for a community center to be built next to -- and operated by -- Allen AME Church.

The two-story building will house day care, after-school and senior citizen programs. Construction will begin in October and finish next summer.

The money for the project comes from the Atlantic City Endowment, a $1.5 million fund set up by the company as part of its development agreement with the city for a 2,000-room casino resort in the marina district.

"This is definitely a change in the trend," the Rev. Reginald Floyd, pastor of Allen AME Church, said. "Mirage has not even broken ground, but they're pouring millions of dollars into the community to build it up."

Administered by Mayor James Whelan, City Council President Rosalind Norrell-Nance and Mirage officials Victor Cruse and Richard Bronson, the fund is also giving $680,000 to Atlantic City YouthBuild, a job training agency; $50,000 to the Spanish Community Center and $15,000 to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, among other groups.

Mirage committed to spending money on community projects as part of its agreement with the city, but nobody expected it to begin before the casino opening, scheduled for 2002.